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Rebecca Jones (RPS in peace) really liked 10 Dead Doves when she wrote about it back in 2022, saying it reminded her of why she “loves weird low-budget spooks so much”. Discovering such an interesting project speaks to curiosity and taste on her part, but me? I am simply a pun enjoying buffon who got an email promising that “Dovecraftian horrors await”. The thrust of said electronic mail was that the game now has a release date of this December, but it looked neat, so I doved right in. I coo-dn’t resist. I too love weird low-budget horror. I have been pigeonholed.
Distinct from the implied narrative conceit mainly revolving around poisoned chips, 10 Dead Doves opens with Marcus – “the Most Pathetic Man on Earth” – going backpacking on the Appalachian Trail with his buddy Sean, searching for an urban-legendary place called “The Ant Farm”. Presentation is all medium poly papercraft and fixed angles, tank controls and all. It’s very odd and very fun. You can grab the demo here, by the way.
This is likely part cop-out and part time constraints, but I feel the highest praise I can give what I’ve played of 10 Dead Doves is that I don’t feel I could adequately do it word-justice in anything less than a much longer article. I will say this: while I do not feel it’s attempting to be the indie game equivalent of an A24 film in any way, I do feel that my fellow A24 wankers will likely appreciate it. I’d compare it to Indika, almost, in the way it uses the sort of camera techniques, spatial tricks and disorientating artistry that feel like they’re film specific, but are actually implemented in ways only a game could pull off.
If this sounds overly worthy or highfalutin, I should say that it’s also just very funny. Nothing sums up the scrappy avant-garde approach better than the devs singing the game title acapella over the splash screen. Some of the language used in the more eldritch sections is winkingly baroque, and the way the character’s faces dart jarringly between distinct expressions is brilliant. I actually didn’t finish the entire demo since I plan to grab this on release, but it’s shot right up for me as a must-play for the year. It’s a Columbidae-te, then. One for the massive cross section of ornithology enthusiasts and indie horror fans, that.